Kiss a pig, read a book

Published 1:00 am, Saturday, April 4, 2009

In 2006, he dove into a frozen Lake Kenosia. Last year he served as guest referee during a pro wrestling match.

On Saturday, he kissed Daisy, a 115-pound pot-bellied pig.

"I just have to tell you - I'm living the dream," Boughton said afterward.

Boughton was one of about 100 people in the gymnasium at the
Park Avenue School
for "Pig Out on Reading Day," an event sponsored by Danbury
Children First
, a non-profit agency that advocates for children's issues in the city.

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Paul Minor, a Bristol resident better known as "Farmer Minor," brought along the 14-year-old pot-bellied pig, labelled "the world's most kissed pig," and Day2, a tiny male pig of just five months.

Minor wowed the kids with tales of Daisy's dedication to reading. He even had the wide-eyed youngsters take a pledge, promising to "read good books" and visit their local library.

The kids, who had the chance to pet Minor's two pampered pigs, giggled with delight after Boughton placed a (long) three-second smooch on Daisy. Up next - Common Council President
Joe Cavo
, who kissed cute Day2.

Cavo got off easy. Pigs at five months - cute. Fourteen years? No so much.

Danbury Children First handed out surveys aimed to assess the needs of children and parents in the city.

"We want to enhance and improve our services. We still have many children in our community who are not able to succeed in school. We want to dig a little deeper to see what else we can do to support our families," said
Linda Kosko
, the agency's executive director.